Bengal CPI(M) MLA joins TMC

Basirhat Uttar MLA Rafiqul Islam Mondal joined the TMC at the party's headquarters in the presence of senior ministers Aroop Biswas and Jyotipriyo Mullick. Mondal had switched over to the CPI(M) from the TMC ahead of the 2016 assembly elections in the state after he was denied a ticket to fight the polls.

A CPI(M) legislator along with his supporters joined the ruling Trinamool Congress on Friday "to fight the BJP" in West Bengal. Basirhat Uttar MLA Rafiqul Islam Mondal joined the TMC at the party's headquarters in the presence of senior ministers Aroop Biswas and Jyotipriyo Mullick.

Mondal had switched over to the CPI(M) from the TMC ahead of the 2016 assembly elections in the state after he was denied a ticket to fight the polls. "In 2016, I had joined the Left Front due to some differences but I have realised that in the fight against the BJP, Didi (Mamata Banerjee) is the only hope. So, to strengthen her hand, I am joining the TMC," Mondal said.

Senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said the induction of the opposition CPI(M) and Congress MLAs only reflects the TMC's intention to weaken the "secular forces" in the state. Former BSP state general secretary Babu Nand Prasad, who recently quit the party, also joined the TMC.